Mazzucchelli’s main characters – protagonist Asterios Polyp (whose unusual last name was bequeathed to his father by a frustrated clerk at Ellis Island), his delicate wife Hana Sonnenscheie, and the ghost voice of his deceased twin brother Ignazio – interact in a kind of non-linear dream world which is both abstract and concrete.Īsterios, an architect and professor whose draftsmanship and design ideas are renowned, never builds any of his blueprints he drifts along in a kind of cerebral prison, trapped in a golden cage of self-infatuation. Each espousing a distinct outlook on the world, every character reaches into Polyp's soul to uncover a new facet of the character, his spirituality, his earnest, hardworking nature, his compassion, or his indifference and egoism.David Mazzucchelli’s first solo foray into graphic novels exquisitely blends a strong aesthetic voice and a complex, engaging story on the posturings of academia, the difficulties of intimacy, and the philosophy of design.Īnd to put it simply, one of the most visually provoking novels I’ve ever read. By crafting a series of distinct and internally strong characters, Mazzucchelli enables Asterios Polyp to explore the human condition via his interactions with one of the most memorable casts to grace the comics page. Technically, Asterios Polyp is an absolute tour de force, with a lesson in cartooning to learn on every page, but Mazzucchelli isn't just showing his virtuosity as an artist and designer. Watch Polyp's solid, square balloons and speech in contrast to Ursula's dreamy balloons or Stiffly's slightly sloppy speech. Every element of the book tells you something about the characters Mazzucchelli even creates individual fonts and word balloon styles for each character to capture the uniqueness of his or her respective voice. – while crafting graphically engaging symbols and page layouts that dig into Polyp's philosophies on life. Mazzucchelli uses Polyp's architecture background beautifully, often literally deconstructing characters down to their own "architectural" core – solid shapes and lines for Polyp soft, nuanced cross-hatching for his adoring wife Hana etc. And he's having a midlife crisis that just won't quit. The book's star Asterios Polyp is fifty years old, an insufferable know-it-all who just happens to be one of the most renowned architecture professors in the country.
Asterios Polyp (Image credit: David Mazzuchelli (Pantheon Books)) (opens in new tab)
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